Hiding News
Fandom: HP
Rating: G
Word Count: 780
Disclaimer: Not mine: no money.
Summary: This is an amusing addendum to ‘Hiding’ that does not feature HG and SS per se, but only makes sense if you’ve read the HG/SS story first.
AN: If you never thought there’d be something funny based on ‘Hiding,’ well, I didn’t at first either, so I thank
alienor77310 for her comment on ‘Hiding’ at the
sshg_exchange for inspiring this. Thanks as always to my fantastic beta,
firefly_124, and wonderful Brit-picker,
saracen77.
Daily Mail
21/12/2011
Quintuplets: a Blessing and a Handful
Sheila Davenport
Two years ago, Mary and Gary Whitcombe of Lewisham in the East End of London joined the ranks of an ever increasing number of couples who were willing to try combining multiple infertility treatments at once. While many doctors caution against such procedures because they tend to result in multiple births, which carry a higher risk of ill health for the infants, there are cases where there’s a happy ending.
“We’ve been blessed,” Mary Whitcombe says. “Blessed.” She bounces one dark-haired boy on her hip while another pulls on her skirt, the three girls busily attempting to corral the family cat in a corner of their flat’s lounge. Ms. Whitcombe laughs somewhat breathlessly. “They’re just so … so full of life, our five. They were on the mend, quick as a flash, for being premature. It gobsmacked the docs, it did.”
When asked how she and her husband came to have quintuplets, Ms. Whitcombe replies, “Well, me and Gary, we was so wanting to start a family. So we tried everything, you know? And when nothing worked, the doc went and had us try two things together, and there you are! I had five.” She swipes a wisp of hair off her brow and switches the small boy she’s holding to the other hip.
“It’s a right handful most days,” she adds, “what with them being so bright and all. Why sometimes I think they’re already brighter than me and Gary, and they’re only two!” She reaches down to gently tweak the nose of the boy she’s holding, and he grins up at her.
The cat, now with a large bow firmly attached to its neck, streaks by on its way to the kitchen, three little ones in close pursuit, the last waving a bonnet in the air.
Ms. Whitcombe looks up from their antics and laughs again. When asked about the children’s uncanny intelligence, she clarifies. “There’s times, see, when it’s like they can all just look at each other, really look into the eyes, and it’s like they talk without saying it out loud. I’ve heard as twins can sometimes do that, but seeing it for me own self was something else altogether.”
“But even that …” She gets a far-away look on her face, brow creasing, and when prompted to continue says, “You’ll probably think me mental, but sometimes I come into their room, and it’s like things are moving - moving without anyone touching them!” Giving another small laugh, she shakes her head self deprecatingly. “See! I’m dead tired from running after this lot, is what it is.”
Tiredness aside, love and high spirits fill their home, and the Whitcombes are a sterling example of a family for whom the benefits of a multiple birth far outweighed the risks. “Me and Gary, we know we’re blessed,” Ms. Whitcombe repeats. “We say it every day”
Daily Prophet
27/7/2020
Muggle-born Overrun Hogwarts!
Rita Skeeter
Inside sources report that over the past few years Hogwarts has experienced an inexplicable influx of Muggle-born students. Since the late 1960s, Muggle-born have comprised about 12% of Hogwarts’ incoming class each year. Yet beginning around 2017, that number jumped abruptly to 21%.
“We’ve been run ragged, we have,” says one professor who wishes to remain anonymous for purposes of job security. “Used to be only the Head and Deputy would be out bringing word to the families of the Muggle-born, but now every member of the teaching staff has to too. This term, there’s even going to be a set of five coming from one family - five!”
“But that’s not the strangest thing,” our confidant leans forward to whisper. “It’s that they’re almost all from London. I mean, what’s got magic levels up in London, I ask myself. And …,” the Hogwarts insider clears their throat and whispers even more quietly, “they don’t all look exactly alike, mind, but there’s something … the nose or …”
Although this reporter could get no more supposition from this particular source, investigative work shows that this trend looks to continue into the near future, as Hogwarts is already set to accept a large number of Muggle-born students this coming term as well.
Could a magical accident at the Ministry fourteen years ago be to blame? Could the Ministry be experimenting with Muggle water supplies in an attempt to repopulate the Wizarding world? Could anti-Voldemort vigilantes be working to ensure that pure-bloods never again take over by diluting their majority status in Wizarding society? As always, this intrepid reporter promises not to rest until she has found out.
Rating: G
Word Count: 780
Disclaimer: Not mine: no money.
Summary: This is an amusing addendum to ‘Hiding’ that does not feature HG and SS per se, but only makes sense if you’ve read the HG/SS story first.
AN: If you never thought there’d be something funny based on ‘Hiding,’ well, I didn’t at first either, so I thank
alienor77310 for her comment on ‘Hiding’ at the
sshg_exchange for inspiring this. Thanks as always to my fantastic beta,
firefly_124, and wonderful Brit-picker,
saracen77.
Daily Mail
21/12/2011
Quintuplets: a Blessing and a Handful
Sheila Davenport
Two years ago, Mary and Gary Whitcombe of Lewisham in the East End of London joined the ranks of an ever increasing number of couples who were willing to try combining multiple infertility treatments at once. While many doctors caution against such procedures because they tend to result in multiple births, which carry a higher risk of ill health for the infants, there are cases where there’s a happy ending.
“We’ve been blessed,” Mary Whitcombe says. “Blessed.” She bounces one dark-haired boy on her hip while another pulls on her skirt, the three girls busily attempting to corral the family cat in a corner of their flat’s lounge. Ms. Whitcombe laughs somewhat breathlessly. “They’re just so … so full of life, our five. They were on the mend, quick as a flash, for being premature. It gobsmacked the docs, it did.”
When asked how she and her husband came to have quintuplets, Ms. Whitcombe replies, “Well, me and Gary, we was so wanting to start a family. So we tried everything, you know? And when nothing worked, the doc went and had us try two things together, and there you are! I had five.” She swipes a wisp of hair off her brow and switches the small boy she’s holding to the other hip.
“It’s a right handful most days,” she adds, “what with them being so bright and all. Why sometimes I think they’re already brighter than me and Gary, and they’re only two!” She reaches down to gently tweak the nose of the boy she’s holding, and he grins up at her.
The cat, now with a large bow firmly attached to its neck, streaks by on its way to the kitchen, three little ones in close pursuit, the last waving a bonnet in the air.
Ms. Whitcombe looks up from their antics and laughs again. When asked about the children’s uncanny intelligence, she clarifies. “There’s times, see, when it’s like they can all just look at each other, really look into the eyes, and it’s like they talk without saying it out loud. I’ve heard as twins can sometimes do that, but seeing it for me own self was something else altogether.”
“But even that …” She gets a far-away look on her face, brow creasing, and when prompted to continue says, “You’ll probably think me mental, but sometimes I come into their room, and it’s like things are moving - moving without anyone touching them!” Giving another small laugh, she shakes her head self deprecatingly. “See! I’m dead tired from running after this lot, is what it is.”
Tiredness aside, love and high spirits fill their home, and the Whitcombes are a sterling example of a family for whom the benefits of a multiple birth far outweighed the risks. “Me and Gary, we know we’re blessed,” Ms. Whitcombe repeats. “We say it every day”
Daily Prophet
27/7/2020
Muggle-born Overrun Hogwarts!
Rita Skeeter
Inside sources report that over the past few years Hogwarts has experienced an inexplicable influx of Muggle-born students. Since the late 1960s, Muggle-born have comprised about 12% of Hogwarts’ incoming class each year. Yet beginning around 2017, that number jumped abruptly to 21%.
“We’ve been run ragged, we have,” says one professor who wishes to remain anonymous for purposes of job security. “Used to be only the Head and Deputy would be out bringing word to the families of the Muggle-born, but now every member of the teaching staff has to too. This term, there’s even going to be a set of five coming from one family - five!”
“But that’s not the strangest thing,” our confidant leans forward to whisper. “It’s that they’re almost all from London. I mean, what’s got magic levels up in London, I ask myself. And …,” the Hogwarts insider clears their throat and whispers even more quietly, “they don’t all look exactly alike, mind, but there’s something … the nose or …”
Although this reporter could get no more supposition from this particular source, investigative work shows that this trend looks to continue into the near future, as Hogwarts is already set to accept a large number of Muggle-born students this coming term as well.
Could a magical accident at the Ministry fourteen years ago be to blame? Could the Ministry be experimenting with Muggle water supplies in an attempt to repopulate the Wizarding world? Could anti-Voldemort vigilantes be working to ensure that pure-bloods never again take over by diluting their majority status in Wizarding society? As always, this intrepid reporter promises not to rest until she has found out.